[Closed] eve of 1st lockdown 23rd March 2020, what were you doing, your thoughts ?

I was probably working from home by then, all very uneventful to be honest..

I do remember being one of the last to leave the Science park and going to work when it was a complete ghost town - was a bit like 28 days later.

i was on the sick from work. i had been sent home with a virus.

I'd moved back in with my dad temporarily as my mum had been taken into hospital after a series of seizures. I had two weeks away from my family and I remember being depressed and a little scared as my wife developed COVID symptoms during the first week I was away. Thankfully she was fine. Whilst I know a few people who have tested positive and some who have gone on to develop full blown symptoms I haven't lost anyone close to me or indeed know anyone who has. For this I do feel very lucky.

Can't believe that is has been a full year.

And loo roll, it was a right PITA trying to find loo roll, also Allbran and Earl Grey Tea IIRC.

I seem to remember lockdown coming the day after I went to see The Lighthouse at the cinema on March 12th... maybe that was just entertainment places closing..? On 23rd of March I was doing an online speed awareness course. Imagine that, people getting done for speeding! 😆

My company has a minute's silence planned for tomorrow, as "reflection" on Covid.. like I guess if we didn't have a time for it, we'd probably completely forget it was going on eh. Sheesh.

I was WFH, p20 was at work. We know that we would catch it at some point via the ambulance service, which played out, but not till November as p20 ended up working in YAS driving school much longer than expected as they tried to get as many people as possible qualified to drive. It was scary - knowing we would get ill and waving him off to work each day not sure what would happen. Worried about my family - thankfully all of whom have been fine (including my 92 yr old grandmother who beat Covid!). We got our neighbours to socially distanced sign our wills, and I put letters through everyone's letterbox with my phone number on it should anyone need help due to isolation. That turned into a big street WhatsApp group which has been good for people needing support at times. I remember going to the chemist and stood outside (now normal) and the main A road was empty. Very odd looking back.

I was here that Monday.

I remember being a little bit excited about being allowed to work from home for what I thought would be a couple of weeks or so. How wrong I was. Sitting at home alone for days on end lost its sparkle very quickly.

As others, I was already WFH (we started a week before the official announcement). Every single day has pretty much been Groundhog Day since then.

I also had an entry in my Google calendar, inspired by Kerley's panic buying/stocking up -

. https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/wheres-the-coronavirus-were-all-going-to-die-conspiracy-thread/page/7/.

Like a few already, we got sent to WFH on the 17th thinking it'd be a few weeks and now a year later I'm rather liking it sat in my log cabin at the top of the garden.

I now have a separate work space which also doubles as a training space with my bike permanently set up on the trainer. I don't have to spend nigh on 3 hours a day commuting to the office and back, so I get more time at home with the kids - which is nice. Yeah the not seeing everyone is a bit of a shitter, but it's not the end of the world for me at least and the intermittent non-lockdown periods allow for decent catch ups before it all goes to shit again as some people simply can't follow guidance, but that's life ain't it folks!

Chopping down a tree with the neighbour and making plans for a summer in the garden.

Trying to find stock for my village shop, moving out of my house away from wife and child and working 16hr days....

I'd been to my last university campus on March 7th. Week before that had 5 days riding in Malaga. Can't remember 23rd, but we were in the pub the day they were closed/not closed/closed. Some very confused publicans locking and unlocking doors.

I do remember that week rescheduling loads of on-site work until end April. Later on it was May then June and then we just did it all on-line. Don't expect I'll get onto another campus until September this year.

I was pretty worried I'd get zero work because Uni's would be kind of busy doing other stuff, and I'd no idea how to deliver it virtually. And yet here we are a year later, stupidly busy and defo not going back to being on the road 10-15 days a month.

We've been super lucky with family and friends not getting really ill or worse. I know many others haven't... 🙁

I was coming home from a packraft/camping trip down the Spey as I got too cold. Had decided I wasn't going to keep working at my job as I didn't like it. Got told not to do any work from that Monday, got contract terminated a couple of months later and haven't worked a day since.
Have spent most of that time in my flat by myself, though did get a decent summer.

I was planning a move back down to Weymouth. On the Friday evening we had an evening planned at the pub in town with a band and lots of pub mates. Another guy was taking a 9 month sabbatical to ride his motorbikes around Europe and the UK so we were using it as a leaving do.
I heard the news at lunchtime and thought "sod that" as every nutter in the area is going to cram into the pub for a last session before lockdown, so I didn't even bother going.
Still stuck up here, although operation 'head to Weymouth' is firmly on for April.

I remember having to drive 25 miles to Newcastle in order to buy bog roll.

I was buying all the Pasta and Toilet Roll in the North East,then selling it in Newcastle.

Sat in tears with my girlfriend. Her work had just shut (wedding co-ordinator) and all of my gigs for 2020 had been cancelled, and the schools that I taught guitar in had shut. Furlough was yet to be properly announced and SEISS was even further away.

It didn't turn out too bad in the end, but it was ****ing awful at the time, and in the 12 months of Covid, our household income is down by nearly half.

I was just over a week into self isolation as my daughter had shown symptoms. I'd spent most of that week coordinating the shift of staff to WFH and our external IT support had essentially phoned and squeaked help! As a geochemist, it was an interesting couple of weeks, lots of procedures were written.

Was out trail building behind Stirling. Have not been back to those trails since! 🙁

I’d been WFH for years but it was the first day school and nursery was shut. Wife flat out busy in new job and my employer was a bit more flexible so I offloaded what I could and did what absolutely needed doing in the evenings.

As it turned out, the first of 164 days straight looking after the kids. I was expecting 6 weeks tops.

Had the flu(might have been covid) so was home anyway. Got better. Continued to WFH.

I was busy writing my MSc dissertation this time last year.

As for the lockdown(s), I still question the ethics of all for purposes of protecting (mostly) over 80s many of whom - in care homes - would now be dead anyway one year on (the average stay in a care home is just 2 years).

Many kids have lost a year of school which is massive for them, the economy is trashed and many business and individuals will never recover. I don't want to make it all about myself but, for example, I'm now having to do a menial job I hate; if it were not for covid I'm sure I could have secured myself a proper job.

Took the full suss out for it's last ride "for a long time"

1-----2------3-----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9----- and 10

Ah,that's better

Remember being sent home from work, as despite the official government definition of key workers covering those who dealt with benefits payments, as it was such a small part of what the organisation did they ignored our work completely. Was told that a laptop would be sent out at some point and no, I couldn't take any paperwork with me - at the time our work was predominantly paper based.

Big panic 3 weeks later as benefits went unpaid and laptops were issued.

Wife was a frontline social worker, remember her having to carry on and do visits with no PPE.

Kids had 4 grandparents at the time, one with latevstage cancer and one with early signs of dementia. Was convinced we wouldn't have all 4 by Christmas. Pleasantly surprised that we do. No one close to us has caught it, a couple of colleagues have had it and got through it, one Scouting connection sadly lost to it.

Wondering what starting a new job would be like on the 23rd having been out of work for 9 months, somewhat worried it would all go pear shaped and trying to work from home wouldn't work. Turned out a lot better than I expected but still working from home.

I'd given my notice into a role I hated in early Jan and was 2 weeks before the end of my gardening leave with a growing panic that the job market was on its knees. As it turned out, it was, and it took me another 3 months to secure a new job (which was not good and I left 3 months after joining).

My wife had a bit of fever and was feeling a bit ropey. She lost her taste shortly afterwards but felt fine within a week or 2, hough her taste took longer to come back.
I'd also just started what turned into a streak of exercising every day that is still going today, even though I had a week early April where I felt like death warmed up, some kind of virus maybe???

The local brewery had started delivering fresh draft beer to the door, I was well and truly taking advantage of this...

In truth, it all felt a bit surreal and I certainly didn't see it as being as serious as it turned out to be. I'd not say I was overly scared then (I'm not sure I ever have been that scared), I was more worried (still am) for my numerous friends who work in hospitality who saw their businesses and incomes pulled out from under them.

We were sent home from work on 16th March when it became obvious that a lockdown was imminent. The office remained open for another 2-3 days so anyone who was working remotely could get in and collect belongings.

We all thought it'd be "a few weeks", BJ was banging on about all be back to normal by Easter, we were assuming sort of summer time.

I was getting out for bike rides by mid/late afternoon rather than commuting which was nice.
It took me another few months to get properly sorted with a decent home office set-up because Amazon had seen a massive run on second screens, laptop stands etc.

Thankfully I hadn't booked much in the way of holiday - I often head out to Spain for a week of road cycling at end of March time but I can almost book that last minute anyway, there's no real planning required. Friends who had booked onto events like Etape du Tour were more concerned. And I do a lot of volunteer work for domestic cycle racing and that just dropped off almost immediately - initially it was events up until July being cancelled but very soon it was the entire year gone.

My analysis had just been presented to SAGE. It showed the epidemic in the UK was growing at the same rate as all other countries when at the same point in their epidemic, but that deaths were doubling faster than cases. I thought that based on the evidence of impending healthcare collapse, some form of intervention would be necessary and was pleased with the announcement. We'd already been sent home from the office, so no change there.

We had seen it at work already in all probability, we'd isolated one set of labs and offices because of symptomatic staff (no-one could get a test to confirm though) and plans were being drawn up. Then it went batshit mental and we had to close down 'off at the wall' in two days up to 20th March. Risk assessments all round for what would happen as we let fridges at a few 10's of mK above absolute zero warm up unsupervised except by hastily jury rigged remote monitoring, etc.

We thought it was madness, and a total waste of time for a couple of weeks of what at the time was something not happening in the UK.

We subsequently have had some very ill staff, have lost some close to us, and wonder how we UNDERestimated the severity at the time.

I kind of agree with i_scoff_cake; where I disagree is that we should have locked down sooner, and harder and not thrown money at our mates to put bent purchasing contracts and T&T apps together. THEN we might have avoided the things that have come true. 26,000 estimated died because of a slow decision to lockdown. 30,000 more because of the Christmas reopen - no close! debacle. And we still ****ed the economy up as well.

But as above - I as much as anyone thought it was merely a passing shower.

We'd been sent home the previous Tuesday. Never been back and contract ended in December.

At the time I was already looking for the lockdown exit strategy - just checked and I was posted on the main CV thread on 30 March about exit strategy - and couldn't see any short or even medium term way out so I was bracing myself for the long haul even then.

It was my 60th birthday on the 23rd - I'd had to cancel the party I had organised for the previous Saturday as it was expected that bars and restaurants would have to close down. So it was a completely underwhelming birthday spent on my own.

Had been lucky though as had been in France skiing until the 14th when Macron announced the closure of bars, restaurants, ski resorts etc from midnight on the Saturday so we had a full week skiing and flew home on the Sunday. Felt sorry for all the people on the Saturday flights who arrived on the 14th and weren't able to ski.

I was away at my in-laws trying to decide on a headstone for my wife's grave 🙁
Had a phone call from work that all my engineers were to self isolate as our apprentice had CV-19.
Decided on the 24th I better go home so ended up working from home while supposedly on holiday!
Been in work ever since, very little of my job can be done from home.

Two weeks before, I came back from London for the last time on a deserted 16:00 commuter that's normally packed to the gunwales. Thought it might be a month, six weeks tops... One week before, I was pulled on to an emergency team with anyone slightly IT, manning a makeshift helpdesk to help all the other office staff work from home - I had 3 days of that, my last day in the office was the 19th of March, I popped in at the weekend to snaffle a monitor then it was 3 weeks of furlough and almost a year of WFH (went back in a few days last week). London being quiet was super-eerie - then I got anosmia and spent a fortnight bricking it.

I've been totally lucky. Anosmia was my only symptom, work have been fantastic, and touch wood no-one I know has passed from it.

I'd been WFH for a few days as we'd been sent home 'for a couple of weeks until this blows over'
I've been in work 1-2 days every week since (i manage everything going through our build facility - and i can't do it all from home) but still at home the rest of the time.

can't believe its been a year... with some time to go i think..

I actaully wrote some thoughts down (not usually a diary type person, but thought it might help with the stress). My first entry was 23rd March:

"So all the kids are home again...slightly unexpectedly! One one hand it is lovely to see them again but one the other hand we had got used to the peace with them at University.

Still quiet on the COronavirus front in [rural village] - feels like the calm before the storm. Village is a mix of eerily quiet and daft folk ignoring the advice to isolate.

Struggling with the distractions, stress from work, stress from study and yet more distractions. Need to find a way to keep calm and get some work done!"

Doesn't feel like a great deal has changed in a year, although we know more and the outlook is more positive 🙂

... what were you doing, your thoughts ?

All travel plan going back home for holiday in the far east cancelled.
Save about £2k for not travelling home.
Was about to celebrate dooms day but that did not happen, oh well life goes on as normal as it can be for with me trying to learn to cook properly.

It’s had to believe it’s been a year.

Ever the helpless optimist I was assuming a 2-3 firebreak lockdown would see us right. The extraordinary measures being taken were about right and Boris, remarkably was doing about as good a job as we could expect from him and that the figure of 20k deaths was probably more of a ‘worst case’ than a prediction.

I actually wept as Furlough was announced, I don’t know how stressed I was, until it was lifted. We were 3 months into living in our first ‘owned’ home and it looked like we could lose it before we even unpacked.

Hindsight is glaring sometimes, and I guess 12 months from now I might look back at this and wonder how I could be so wrong about how I saw things panning out.

I’m lucky enough to have had my first jab and millions of other have done too, let’s hope this is the way to the end. The world feels like a tinderbox, I’m not sure how another major set-back would go with people.

I remember being at home thinking 'about time' because we'd been isolating already - didn't send the kids back to school after feb half term as we have a couple of very high risk people in the house.

I'd been skiing in St Anton with my family and my step-dad speaks good German so he was reading in local newspapers about the outbreak in northern Italy. They cancelled an extra week following on in the Dolomites as a result of what they'd read. Foreign office advice still said it was fine to go on holiday to Italy/alps for god knows how long afterwards...

The extraordinary measures being taken were about right and Boris, remarkably was doing about as good a job as we could expect from him

Not really the thread for it but WTF?!

Wasn't really a particular day for me- I went to a gig on the 11th March and already by then things were feeling pretty sketchy. I think the Scottish and UK governments' different approaches were definitely kicking in. Also I was caring for my mum who was very vulnerable so that was a worry. I was on my way towards leaving my job anyway, so, there was a very close run thing when they told us "yep, we're shut from monday" where I was like "good because that means I don't have to refuse to come in, that would have been awkward". But it all feels a bit weird with having drifted into it rather than being the big cut off.

I had been skiing in Austria at the end of Feb. Got home on the 29th and a few folks in the airport had masks on. I hadn't really got a grasp on what was happening. Then I was due to travel back home to NI/Ireland with work for a week in the 2nd week of March. That was cancelled and all international travel within our company was banned. Then it happened. I work from home anyway, but I couldn't visit customers for months. Furloughed for 3 weeks in April/May.

I remember listening to this podcast. He was right about many things, but maybe his timescales were a bit off. Even when he mentioned 3-6 months I was shocked. And here we are not knowing when it will end.

Not really the thread for it but WTF?!

Believe it or not, before we knew the terrible truth about what the virus was going to do in the UK and that the measures were all too little, too late, it did actually appear that Boris, or rather the people advising him knew what they were doing, and bear in mind that before it was announced the word 'Furlough' was completely new to most people, being paid to stay at home for weeks on end (as assumed at the time) by a TORY government.